A samurai might have carried a sword in the past, but the modern virtual warrior whips out one of these top-end portables instead.
Let's get this straight. Having a top-end graphics card (GPU) is only one part of the gaming equation. Until DirectX 10 gaming platforms start becoming commonplace, the GPU essentially handles only the eye candy of your favourite titles, while the processing performance of the machine does the actual physics calculation that makes your game oh so realistic.
But this begs a question. Why on earth would someone want to spend several grand on a portable gaming machine when, for significantly less, one could get a cutting-edge desktop with twice the performance power? Though online gaming is becoming more popular -- making LAN parties somewhat of a relic -- there are really few things in life more satisfying than seeing your opponent's face after killing his alter ego with an impossible headshot. A samurai might have carried a sword in the past, but the modern virtual warrior whips out one of these top-end portables instead.
Performance
Based on the punishing 3DMark06 benchmark, the following chart compared gaming performance between the various systems.
(Longer bars indicate better performance.)
1. Dell XPS M1710 (Blu-ray)
A solid all-round multimedia notebook with the grunt to back up its price tag, those expecting something light and cheap should look elsewhere.
- The good
- Solid gaming and movie performance
- Able to travel to LAN events
- The bad
- Limited battery life
- Heavy
- Expensive
2. Dell Inspiron 9400
The Dell Inspiron 9400 packs a solid set of multimedia features, and when configured with Intel's Core Duo processor, it has enough power to speed through virtually any task, from editing video to playing games.
- The good
- Excellent overall performance and competent gaming performance
- Complete set of multimedia controls and connections
- Quality speakers
- Runs Windows XP Media Center
- Features double-layer DVD burner
- The bad
- Lacks integrated TV tuner, though a PC Card tuner is available
3. Sony VAIO VGN-AR18GP
If you're happy to wait a few months for more Blu-ray content to land, the AR18GP is a powerful, multimedia-rich laptop whose only glaring omission is a TV tuner.
- The good
- Blu-ray drive
- Plenty of bundled software
- Great raw performance
- HDMI output
- High quality screen
- The bad
- Current dearth of Blu-ray content
- No TV tuner
- Bulky
- Poor battery life
4. ASUS Lamborghini VX2
It may not have Fernando Alonso behind the wheel, but the latest Lamborghini laptop looks like it has the pure muscle to snap benchmarks in two and still have time to grab a beer and pizza.
5. Toshiba Satellite P200
If you want performance in a desktop replacement form factor then the Toshiba Satellite P200 is a good option, if not a particularly stylish one.
- The good
- Excellent performance
- Bright, colourful screen
- Solid construction
- The bad
- No digital outputs
- Short battery life
- A little stodgy looking compared to other gaming laptops
- Lacking PCMCIA
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shoonya
01/06/2007 06:53 PM
You guys ever heard of the Asus G1 & G2 models??
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jeffbeckhudd
15/06/2007 02:54 AM
What about true gaming notebooks like Alienware and Rock? Why were these not tested?
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eecan
20/08/2007 10:17 AM
Because the XPS is better :P Alienware is way too expensive, you pay a crap load for the brand name. You can get a better spec'd XPS for the same price.
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Disappointed
23/08/2007 10:52 AM
All these are old news!!! Any new ones!!
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M95
03/06/2008 08:21 AM
ASUS has the new G1 out now with the 9500M 512MB Graphics. Configured with VRAM this Intel Core 2 Duo Processor stock with 4GB or RAM will run circles around most if not all gaming laptops. That is after your dis-ingage all the Windows Vista red flags....
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